The Second Chakra - Svadhisthana Chakra

The Second Chakra – Svadhishthana (Swadisthana) Chakra

The Svadhishthana Chakra also written as Swadishthana governs the emotional and sensual aspects of life. An unbalanced second chakra could greatly influence all emotional behaviour. 

Svadhishthana chakra is the second or sacral chakra. It sits at the base of the sacrum 3 – 5 cm above Muladhara (the base or root chakra). 

Svadhishthana translates from Sanskrit to mean Sva – Self and Adhishthana – place or seat of residence. 

Svadhishthana marks the second stage of human development. Its element is water; which represents and is responsible for a lot!

The element of this chakra is a constant reminder that life brings many emotional changes and challenges. Water moves freely, when it is calm and slow moving it is like a mirror revealing reflections and representing serenity. When it is out of control, it is extremely powerful and can be both breath taking and even dangerous.

This chakra is orange in colour, rich with energy and highly vibrational. It is the colour of fire and the rising and setting sun. This chakra helps shape personalities and enhances processing whether food or thought, anything that enters the body needs to be processed and this chakra assists those processes. It is from this point that information stored within the subconscious is able to rise into consciousness.

Muladhara (the root chakra) provides support and acts as an anchor for this chakra and all the other chakras that sit above it. A balanced Muladhara makes it easier and safer to discover the potential that the second chakra holds.

The image of Svadhishthana Chakra is a Lotus with six petals. Each petal is symbolic of negative qualities that at some point might need to be overcome - anger, hatred, jealousy, cruelty, desire and pride. 

When this chakra is balanced it provides the ability to overcome negative qualities and experience clarity.

This chakra provides coping mechanisms for challenging relationships and ever changing situations. It also teaches acceptance.

This chakra provides balance between going with the flow and becoming a master of our true destiny.

This chakra requires and provides self- discovery. By gaining a little understanding about this chakra and becoming aware of our own emotional patterns we can start to balance our emotional behaviour.

In short …..

Svadhishthana (also known as swadisthana) Chakra is the second chakra.

Svadhishthana translates to mean seat of the true self.

The element of this chakra is water.

The colour of this chakra is orange

It is associated with the sense of taste.

This chakra is influenced by Brahma (the creator) and Sarasvati (the goddess of wisdom and creativity). 

It has the Mantra of VAM.

The organs and parts of the body associated with this chakra are: - the reproductive organs, blood, urine, menstruation, tears, hips, sacrum, lower back, kidneys and the bladder.

Physical dysfunctions associated with this chakra are: - lower back pain, sciatica, pelvic pain, sexual impotency, urinary problems, menstrual disorders and appendicitis.

Psychological and Emotional Issues associated with this Chakra are: - Jealousy, rage, greed, addiction to emotional dramas, sexual addiction, being out of touch with ones feelings, resistance to change, constantly seeking pleasure, poor boundaries and poor social skills.

Yoga Postures to balance this chakra are: - all forward and back bending postures and anything that stimulates this region of the body especially Uddiyana Bandha (the abdominal lock).

This blog article was written by Sue Fuller creator of the Yoga 2 Hear range of audio yoga classes and yoga teacher training courses.

Also in Yoga Exploring Further